I sure hope we'll see quiet small systems in the future. Today, a small system usually means really small and loud fans. I even had to modify a small hard drive enclosure I recently purchased due to excessive noise from it's 40mm fan and lack of intake vents. Sadly, I think we'll continue to see poorly designed noisy products even with the help of low power hardware.

I can't think of any PC-building site that has a higher signal/noise ratio than this one. Not even close. You've also built a good community on the forums. Part of it is that you've resisted pressure to get something new up every day. I really appreciate your geekish devotion to getting stuff right.

Re the PC, as long as Microsoft keeps making horrible operating systems and other software bloats with it, there's going to be problems with heat and thus noise. Even with zero gaming, my next build needs a speedier processor.

Another area of possible expansion is PC audio, given your audio background. The "Computer Audio Asylum" is pretty high-value if you make allowances for the usual audiophile insanity. and has at some interests that parallel this site.

7 years, wow. Is it that long allready? I remember buying a Duron 900 and being appalled by the noice the boxed fan made. That was the beginning of my journey of rather specialized (and sometimes shady) hardware.

The reviews are better than ever, nothing short of amazing. Going back to the beginnings through the archives shoves reviews that by todays standards seems almost pioneering, although at the time they were rather sophisticated and were the first to look at power consumtion and test the efficiency of power supplies etc.

It is just to bad that when the site is at its best, the need of the site is diminishing. I guess that is a measure of success, though, and accomplishing that in only 7 years is no small feat.

As for those who believe that ATX Towers will always prevail... I heard of a 20 year old April fools joke this morning. The joke was that there had been a breakthrough with cell phones. In a few years time it would be possible to listen to music (almost cd-quality), to take photos and even make video phone calls using the color screen! Everybody spotted it straight away and thought it hilarious. 20 years ago

We are not there yet, though:) In the meantime we will all be a part of the most informative seven year old I've met in ages

When mainstream computers no longer have fans, spinning storage drives, or other mechanical moving devices, then SPCR's original mission will be accomplished.

I would like you to reconsider this. Even with no obviously moving parts, there are still many sources of noise. What I would really like you to cover, instead of portable mp3 players, include the following:

- Coil whine. It is starting to be a much more important part of the noise generated by computing equipment than the moving parts themselves. And it can be really freaking loud. Especially modding articles about identifying sources of coil whine to component level and then eliminating the problem by modding techniques, with before and after measures of noise level. This done on motherboards, GPU cards, monitors, etc.

- Power efficiency. Even silent computers consume power. You already do this, but I think it will stay relevant in the future too.

- Visual noise. Things that annoy the eye instead of just the ear. This includes abundant pointless led lights in devices, which even blink at the worst case! (My mouse had a blinking led by default, luckily it could be disabled for good). This also includes backlight bleed in monitors, which could be considered visual noise of otherwise black image. And for example cable gami in an office setting, instead of just inside the pc chassis.

- Noise from other devices than just computers, that affect your computing experience. My air conditioning totally dominates my pc in noise making. After all, the word SILENCE comes before PC in the name.

To me this silence stuff is really about removing distraction sources to reach a state of flow when I can really concentrate on things.
My 2c.

I'd like to extend my gratitude for all the wonderful content that can be found on this website and within its community of devoted PC silencers. Congratulations on seven years of great works and here's to hoping for another seven years (at least) of wonderful new content and keeping noise makers honest!

Thanks for all your work with this site, it has been 7 great years and i hope this great site will continue to have a great impact in the future. It certaintly had a impact for me when i found it a few years ago. Here was other people who shared my aversion to noise from computers, and tried to do something about it. So here's a big thank you for making my life less noisy.

lm wrote:

MikeC in The Article wrote:

When mainstream computers no longer have fans, spinning storage drives, or other mechanical moving devices, then SPCR's original mission will be accomplished.

I would like you to reconsider this. Even with no obviously moving parts, there are still many sources of noise. What I would really like you to cover, instead of portable mp3 players, include the following:

- Coil whine. It is starting to be a much more important part of the noise generated by computing equipment than the moving parts themselves. And it can be really freaking loud. Especially modding articles about identifying sources of coil whine to component level and then eliminating the problem by modding techniques, with before and after measures of noise level. This done on motherboards, GPU cards, monitors, etc.

- Power efficiency. Even silent computers consume power. You already do this, but I think it will stay relevant in the future too.

- Visual noise. Things that annoy the eye instead of just the ear. This includes abundant pointless led lights in devices, which even blink at the worst case! (My mouse had a blinking led by default, luckily it could be disabled for good). This also includes backlight bleed in monitors, which could be considered visual noise of otherwise black image. And for example cable gami in an office setting, instead of just inside the pc chassis.

- Noise from other devices than just computers, that affect your computing experience. My air conditioning totally dominates my pc in noise making. After all, the word SILENCE comes before PC in the name.

To me this silence stuff is really about removing distraction sources to reach a state of flow when I can really concentrate on things.My 2c.

I agree with the above, and i would read such articles with great interest. I did also enjoy the short article on the samsung music player, as i'm currently in the market for a player. So keep up the good work:)

Though while quiet computers are becoming mainstream, it will be a very long time indeed before computers approach anything like the theoretical maximum power efficiency, as per the Von Neumann-Landauer limit. If SPCR can inspire increased power efficiency over the next seven years the way it helped inspire a reduction in PC noise, I can imagine sitting at a machine with a comparable amount of computational power to the (two year old) one I'm using now, and instead of drawing ~70 watts at the wall, that machine in 2016 might draw ~7 watts, and be literally silent, with no moving parts, buzz, woosh, or hum. Beyond that, we'll probably need "Reversible Computing", or some yet-undeveloped tech to continue gains in power efficiency.

So here's to seven years of increased power efficiency, leading to utterly silent computing!

Wow, Happy Anniversary Mike! I think it's fair to say that, over these seven years you have forged the path towards environmentally-cleaner, quieter computing, and we have all benefited from your labors - and those of who have supported you along the way as well (this means YOU, fellow forum members and friends).
I for one regret that I was older when computers became a household item and not a curiosity; but at 53 I still look forward to the future - it most certainly will be a much different playing field than the one we use now!
Keep up the good work, and peace be upon you and yours!
Ted
(aka KillerCroc)

This has been and remains one of my favorite web sites to visit. Your effort and insight are commendable and I don't know how many crappy products I would have bought without you and the people you brought together here.

For every time I say something that even remotely seems negative towards an SPCR review or reviewer know that I've probably thought a thousand positive things about the same reviews and reviewers. It is with the utmost respect and desire for learning that I hound you (and myself) to improve. I'm assuming most of the regulars around here feel the same.

In short, Thanks and congratulations.

_________________.Please put a country in your profile if you haven't already.This site is international but I'll assume you are in the US if you don't tell me otherwise.RAID levels thread http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=388987

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